Valentino Rossi and Lando Norris to headline Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026
Rossi and Norris lead a heavyweight Goodwood line-up
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi and Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris will headline the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, fronting a broad motorsport bill that brings together active F1 drivers, former champions, MotoGP greats and major racing machinery on the famous hillclimb.
Rossi’s appearance will mark his first visit to the Festival of Speed since 2015, and his first since retiring from MotoGP in 2021. The Italian, now racing for BMW in the GT World Challenge, will attend with Monster Energy, BMW and Yamaha. Earlier this year, he scored a podium at the Bathurst 12 Hour, underlining that his competitive career remains active beyond grand prix motorcycle racing.
Monster’s long association with Rossi is also part of the Goodwood narrative. The company partnered with him in 2009, released a limited-edition drink called ‘The Doctor’ in 2013, and followed it in 2025 with a new Zero Sugar edition carrying an updated blue design and Rossi’s iconic number 46.
Norris returns as F1 world champion
Norris will arrive at Goodwood with a different status: Formula 1 world champion. The McLaren driver defeated Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri in 2025 to claim his first title, and now returns to West Sussex as one of the headline names of the event.
Like Rossi, Norris is also linked to Monster Energy, which launched a limited-edition ‘Lando Norris Zero Sugar’ flavour in 2025, with a can design inspired by his race helmet. At Goodwood, Norris will drive McLaren’s MCL60 from the 2023 season, a car that carried him to seven podium finishes.
McLaren’s presence will extend beyond Norris, with reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli and Bruno Senna also attending. The team will bring the 1993 MP4/8, the MP4/8B and the M23.
F1, MotoGP and Formula E converge
The wider F1 line-up includes Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto in the 2012 Lotus E20, Aston Martin’s AMR25 with Jak Crawford and Jessica Hawkins, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda, and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson. Williams will feature Damon Hill in the FW18, alongside James Vowles, Luke Browning and Jamie Chadwick.
Motorcycle racing will be strongly represented too, with Casey Stoner joining Ducati’s 100th anniversary celebrations alongside Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, Tommy Bridewell, Iker Lecuona, Nicolo Bulega and Josh Brookes.
Formula E will also have its largest-ever Goodwood presence, with Dan Ticktum, Jean-Éric Vergne, Sam Bird, James Rossiter, Kush Maini, Lucas di Grassi, Fernando Barrichello and Chloe Chambers attending. The expanded entry aligns with the championship’s Gen4 launch, a theme explored further in our report on Formula E’s Goodwood Festival of Speed showcase.
Even Lightning McQueen, the seven-time Piston Cup champion, is set to return after proving popular in 2025. The four-day Festival begins on Thursday, July 9.
Simone Scanu
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.